Aircraft

NTSB joins probe into 727 tank explosion

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is assisting an Indian investigation into the apparent explosion of the left-wing fuel tank of a Transmile Airlines Boeing 727-200 freighter on the ground at Bangalore airport on 4 May. The explosion occurred when the aircraft was being “repositioned”, says the NTSB, and there were no reported injuries writes Leithen Francis.

News of the incident has emerged as the US Federal Aviation Administration scrutinises comments on its controversial notice of proposed rule-making (NPRM) that sets out fuel tank “flammability reduction” measures that it is considering mandating (Flight International, 16-22 May).
“The tragic TWA [Trans World Airlines] 800 accident in 1996 highlighted the vulnerability of transport aircraft fuel tanks,” says NTSB acting chairman Mark Rosenker.

“A decade later the issue remains a major concern of the safety board and is on our ‘most wanted’ list of safety improvements. I am hopeful what is learned from this investigation may provide added impetus for a resolution of this problem without further delay,” he adds.

Transmile Air Services is a cargo airline based in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. Alex Lee, executive director of the airline’s parent company Transmile Group, says the 727-200F was taxiing at Bangalore airport on the afternoon of the accident, prior to take-off for Kuala Lumpur. “It was a hot day in Bangalore that day, but the weather was fine and clear,” he says, adding that the aircraft suffered extensive fire damage to the left wing.

AK Chopra, deputy director-general in charge of safety at India’s Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA), has declined to comment except to say the DGCA’s report into the incident will “take some time, at least two months”.